St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-10-20
THE BOYS LUNCH.
Far,u,r,s vie in Watchman.

The article with the above title,
from the pen of II. Annette Poole,
originally published in Good House
keeping seems to suggest that the
writer is a young lady who has been
supported by the labor of others and
knows very little about obtaining "a
living on a small farm. Her sugges
tiOns as to what boys lunch should
be, when circumstances admit of 1t,
are correct. There is an implied mean
ness in the fact that a basket of fresh
eggs and another of Bartlett pears
stood on the table, ready to be sold,
and that cakes and cookies were re-
served for company. 1t Is an estab-
lished fact that farmers, as a class, are
hOspitable and put themselves to more
inconvenience to crafty and entertain
visitors than professional or nechani
cal people usually do. Many people
seem to ignore the fact that the good
things that farmers raise have really
cost any more than wild berries that
may be had for the gathering. A lady
sitting at the table of a friend, and do
ing ample Justice to the delicious but
ter and cheese, told her hostess she
ought to give her cheese to her friends
instead of selling it for strangers to eat.
An examination into Il small farmers
resources will show the necessity of
constant saving in the very smallest
items. Suppose farmer owns farm
as large as he can cultivate without
hiring help; keeps three or four cows,
horse, two hogs and IA flock of hens
has four children to feed, clOthe and
educate, repairs to be made on his
buildings and fences and his tools to
be kept in order his taxes to be paid
and the various claims of society to be
met. Suppose that he raises meat,
vegetables and grain excepting fiour)
enough for his family consumption.
Few small farmers can do more than
that. Perhaps he may sell a few bar
rels of apples and IL few bushels of pO
tatOes, but his principal income is de-
rived from his cows and hens. Per-
haps his wife and children can pick
few berries to sell. AS he does not
keep a hired man, and his children are
not old enough to help him much, his
wife does all the chores she can, 50 that
he can save his time for field work.
Sometimes she turns the grindstone
and frequently takes away load OF
hay or grain, and in emergencies gives
him lift in various ways. Now can
the family live on chickens, eggs, but
ter, cream and cakes4 Emphatically,
No. The choicest fruit and the best
chickens must be sold butter must be
used sparingly and the greater part of
the eggs must be sold. The whole
family must necessarily share in the
frugality, although there is usually IL
jar of preserves and Il plate of cake left
for company. Will some one who is II
stranger to the necessary economy of
farm-life strike the balance between
Outgoes and incomes and tell us wheth-
or the mother can always have her hair
smooth, her dress made in the newest
/ fashion and trim and neat, with an i'm
maculate white collar at her throat 2
The mother who put up the boys
lunch had a pail and had not the few
cents to spare to buy IA basket. She
had got the breakfast, fed the hens
and pigs, SKINNED the milk, selected
the pears and counted the eggs for sale,
and had an ironing or baking to be
done before dinner, and consequently
could not stop to envelope each article
in fresh white paper neither could she
diminish the eggs by extracting two of
them for his dinner. Perhaps she
might have cut the slices of bread
more evenly had not the press OF cares
and labors rendered her ObliviOus to
the graceful details of common things.
And yet the small farmers are usually
the most contented and happy class of
laborers, and from such small and fru-
gal homes "a large proportion of our
great men come and children reared
in such homes, with scanty literary ad-
vantages, are very frequently in ad-
vance of village children, who attend
school nearly all the time.